13 the dead come home

After the EMP, I moved. "Shift and run! We're going to the roof of the estate and checking out the situation!" They all nodded, and we shifted. We were a few minutes out already, so running as wolves made it easier to get too.

We made it to the estate, and as we jumped up to the roof, we took in the situation. I looked around for where the breach was supposed to happen, and sighed in relief. I could see the guys having issues with the machine, but that was it. With Shidou dead, there was no bus to crash into the barriers. I kept looking around, and then I stopped.

I shifted back, and just stared. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." The rest of the pack looked towards where I was, and they all shifted back with their jaws on the floor.

What were we looking at you may wonder? Well, it looked like there was an envoy that was coming our way, maybe from the airport group, and they were stranded. Now this doesn't seem like an issue right? And it wouldn't be. But when we saw those guys shooting and ringing the dinner bell for any zombies in the area, and throwing GRENADES, then the issue was starting to become clear.

Though, that wasn't the real issue. One of them had a fucking RPG, and we all watched it fly into one of the blockades set up before the EMP. The rocket blew open the barricade, and we saw whatever soldiers or envoys, run towards the estate... With a growing horde of them following behind them. "THOSE INCOMPETENT BABOONS! WHO THE HELL FIRES AN RPG AGAINST SURVIVORS!?"

I was right there with Saya. And that wasn't even the worse of it. The sound of that explosion started drawing even more zombies towards the estate... So now there wasn't just one breach... There were two. The original breach was starting to get crowded, and things started to play out like in the anime. I clicked my tongue, and looked around. They could do this. I turned to my pack and looked at them.

"Takashi. I'll go deal with those idiots and the breach I made. I'll leave the other side to you. Remember, you're a leader, rely on those in the pack, and you'll never fall." He looked at me, and nodded. I looked towards the others, and they al looked back at me. "Make sure to grab your weapons. You may have new power, but you're still getting used to it. Rely on what you know, and go from there. And Werewolf forms are to be used as a last resort. Do not get cocky. We'll meet back up here after this is over." They nodded at me, and I looked out towards the estate. I shifted, and I howled.

I turned towards the breach made by the soldiers, and jumped off the roof towards it. As soon as I landed, I ran. The breach was at a side entrance, but it was more narrow then the main gate. If I worked it right, I could deal with it by using my Sonic Howl, and throwing up a makeshift barrier of concrete or asphalt. I kept running, thinking about how I'd deal with the situation, and ignoring the panic of the normal people in the place.

When I made it to the area, I looked at the soldiers responsible for the breach, and noticed something. (This isn't the SDF... Who the fuck are they?) I shook that thought aside, and ran towards them.

"Incoming!" Some fucker shouted, and I saw him, and the 8 other soldiers raise their weapons at me. I clicked my tongue, and kept running.

"It's just a dog! Leave it and retreat, we need to fall back and set up a kill zone if we want to live. Now let's go, move move move!" The guy that took charge helped, and I ran towards them, and eventually passed them. The street was narrow, maybe enough for a bus to go through, but not enough for anything else to be besides it.

I stopped a good ways in front of the horde, and I grinned. (The hunt is on!) And then I howled. I fired off a Sonic Howl towards the zombies, and started off with 10%. The cone styled impact hit the closest zombies, and sent a row of them flying back. The barricade was damaged, no shit, but there was a hole. I could maybe plug it up with a car or something, but there weren't any close enough. The only vehicle I could use was the truck the soldiers came in, but it was on the other side, crawling with zombies... (I always wondered if I could be Eren.)

I had an idea , and started planning on how to do it. I shifted back, not caring about the soldiers, and extended my claws. I was about to move, but then I saw something that made me blink.

[Status]

Werewolf Strength stage 2/4 - 581/750 - 603/750

Only 7 of those were mine. Then I realized what this meant. And I grinned even more. And as the counter rose even higher, and I tore into zombies like a knife through butter, I laughed. I tore zombies apart, threw bodies like I was playing dodge ball, and tore heads off with my fangs. I didn't care about being bitten, clawed into or grabbed, I kept laughing all throughout the fight. And after... 2 minutes? I cackled with glee.

[Status]

Werewolf strength stage 2/4 - 603/750 - 750/750

Requirements met. Proceeding to unlock stage 3/4...

Stage 3/4 unlocked. Werewolf Strength updating...

Update complete.

Werewolf Strength stage 3/4 - Addition, Aura imbuement unlocked. Physical parameter's updating...

Update complete.

Strength - C+

Dexterity - C-

Next stage 750/7,500

I howled in joy, and as another wave of zombies were coming towards me, I went with muscle memory, and coated my claws in aura. I looked at the horde, 130 at the very least, and I crossed my claws towards them. A mesh of razor thin, claw shaped aura flew forwards, and tore through the zombies like an 1000 degree knife. I felt a little tired, that cost me what... 5%? I already used 10% for a howl, and I was healing so that took some out of me too.

But it was worth it. The horde was thinned, even if more were crawling out of the wood works, and I started making my way towards the nearest wall. I focused my aura on the tips of my claws, and cut into a wall like a laser. I went with quick and precise movements. I tore out a part of the wall, cut it out really, and grabbed a chunk that was cut in the shape of a big barricade. The thing weighted nothing to me, and I walked over to the breach.

I held the massive slab of stone on one of my shoulders, and tore through anything that tried to get in my way. I was pulling a fucking Eren, and I loved it. I kept going, and when I dropped the wall turned barricade by the Takagi's barricade, I smiled. "Eat your fucking heart out Eren Yaeger." The breach was closed, and any zombies

I looked at my handiwork, and nodded. As long as it wasn't shot by another RPG, it would hold. "Now then, time to go check on the rest of the kids. I wonder how they're doing?" With that thought, I shifted and ran back to them.

{Saeko's general POV before the EMP}

I was interested in how the training would go. My lord was serious about our training, and I just couldn't wait. Running in the woods, feeling the life drain from a rabbit as I sunk my fangs into it was the most freeing moment of my life. I wanted more of that, and my lord delivered.

It was a little arousing seeing him take command of us, and hearing him speak gave me a sense of structure that we normally didn't have. We had a training schedule, an instructor to help us with our abilities, and the chance to get stronger then we would ever have thought possible.

The training went by well enough, and getting to use aura was an interesting experience. It was like I was trying to draw water out of a dam. I could feel the aura within me, but there seemed to be a limit. I could take water out, I could try to force it out, but the dam held strong. It was annoying. I had power. I knew I did, and I could FEEL it. But I was limited to how much I could force out.

Despite being annoying, I calmed myself and worked with my teachings and my lords advice. I went slowly and used my instincts to figure out just how much I could push out, and how much I could control. It took me minutes to figure out the best way to do it, but when I did, I watched in wonder as I sent a pebble through tree after tree. That power was amazing, and I wanted and needed to do more. So I continued to train, and worked with the powers I was given. I kept going, and I was able to do it after the full 20 minutes were over.

The relaxing period was well received, and just laying against the grass was more relaxing then it had any right to be. There was conversation going around, and I even joined Saya in one about aura. I was intrigued about her and Kohta's findings about the power, and I wanted to learn all about it.

And then Shizuka asked my lord about his past, and all other conversation stopped. We listened, and for once, I felt sorry for someone. I didn't really care about most people, the pack was an exception, we were a pack, a family, and they were worth more then the world to me. So hearing my lords struggles, his loss, the way he grieved, I felt sad for him. And then he told us about how he got back up.

Hearing how determined my lord was, how hard he fought, how he got up after years of losing and refused to stop moving forwards, it lit a flame inside of me. 'I want to fight like that. I want to endure as he did.' Thoughts similar to those revolved inside my mind, and I kept listening. Hearing how he searched for geniuses to fight and claim victory over made me think towards our pack. We had Saya and Kohta. Geniuses in aura use.

There was Takashi, a 'stamina freak' as my lord put it. I had issues with stamina, we knew it, so I could train against him to learn and train my own stamina. Then there was Shizuka... The one that could hit harder then all of us. Which was both shocking and amusing.

I could train with her to train my pain tolerance. It'd probably double for her learning how to properly control herself so she doesn't accidentally break us. There were the Miyamoto's, a speed type just like I was, and another power type. I could learn how to fight those just as fast if not faster then me. Then there was my lord himself. If there were any areas I didn't have anyone to train with regarding a different aspect of our powers, I could just ask my lord.

The rest of his story brought me out of those thoughts, and we all listened in. When he was done, we were all stunned at it. And then Shizuka kissed him. And that's when I realized it. 'That's what love looks like.' It was an eye opener for me. Love... Love was something I was still unsure whether I deserved it or not. So seeing a display of not just affection, but love, made me think. After some time, I decided to bring this topic up with him. But we were still training.

And the things we did next made it hard for me to focus on the subject of love. The thrill of the hunt. The call of the wild. The feel of being a pack. I loved every single moment of it.

The feel of deer flesh in my maw, the taste of their blood dripping down my throat. I loved it.

Eating meat raw was still a new experience, despite the fact I did it the day prior, but it was a nice experience. The rest of us enjoyed it, and Saya seemed to enjoy it more then the rest of us did. Something I teased her of when I had the chance. Her reactions were just adorable.

After we ate, we got into the last subject in our training.

Our Werewolf form.

Gods the rush I felt from it was intoxicating. The feeling of power that radiated from within me was something I'd never felt before. And when I was capable of truly using my aura, it was almost orgasmic. I was feeling the heat of arousal burn in me, and I turned to my lord. Though I was disappointed that he refused to take me in the fields.

After the others went through their forms, and learning what they could do, my lord made sure to remind us not to grow overconfident. Hearing our new schedule interested me, and I looked forward to it. After that, we all made our way towards the estate, and as we did, an explosion happened. When we made our way to the estate, and took in the situation, I grew excited. When something wrong happened, THEY usually came, and come THEY did. After our lord ordered us to handle the first breach, we heard his howl, and watched him go. And as he did, I radiated my excitement.

I went to get the sword Saya's father gave me, and I met the rest of my pack outside. Shizuka went to protect Alice, so it was just the rest of us. And as we looked to each other we all smiled.

{Saeko's POV current.}

"What's that thing Zaka says before he goes crazy?" I licked my lips at Saya's question, and looked forwards.

And as one, we responded. "The hunt is on!" And we ran.

"Rei, Saeko, on me! Miyamoto, on Saya. Kohta, you know the drill!" We formed up, and ran towards THEM. There were members of the Takagi estate at the gate, holding THEM back, but the gate wouldn't last. And as we were halfway there, it broke. THEY started to flood in like ants, and as some of the adults died, we made it to the gate.

Takashi made it first, and swung his bat at the nearest one, and we saw its head explode at the hit. Takashi paused for a moment, unused to THAT, but Rei covered him when one of THEM came close. (I wonder how many I can cut down?) That thought made its way into my mind after I saw how easily Rei dealt with another one of them with a kick.

I ran ahead of both of them, and found myself surrounded. But I didn't panic. I didn't even worry. I unsheathed my blade, and with my newfound speed, decapitated 4 of them in a single stroke. The sight of their heads flying, the blood erupting from their necks and the feeling I received as my blade cut through them was intoxicating. (More.) I cut down more of them with Takashi and Rei, and we held the gate.

Some of THEM got through of course, but the stragglers were either shot by Kohta, who was using aura bullets, (Most likely to conserve ammo and then use live rounds when he feels tired.) Or they were cut through by Miyamoto. I saw Saya use her claws, and I was surprised to see she didn't mind getting bloody. It was an interesting change, but Saya did like to eat meat raw... (There's an innuendo in here, and I know I'll be using it against her later.) I grinned at the thought, and went back to cutting THEM down.

"Kohta? How're you feeling?" I blinked for a moment. Kohta was at the balcony, how wo...- And I smiled.

"I can maybe make another mag if I push it! I'll be switching to live rounds in a minute, maybe 2!" With our new senses, we could communicate across the estate, and Takashi used that to our advantage.

"Got it. What's Alice and Marikawa-sensei's status?!"

"They're fine! Marikawa-sensei brought Alice to the Humvee and she's keeping her and Zeke in it! She's got the garage covered!"

"Got it! If anyone gets too exhausted, fall back to the garage!" We all acknowledged that, and resumed fighting. I used my newfound speed and strength to decapitate, disarm, or outright split THEM apart. And it was after one such act, that I had a thought.

(What if I apply aura to my blade? Can I do it?) I hummed at the thought. I used my aura, and tried to focus it around the edge of my blade. It was slow, but possible. I focused on it, ignored the bite I felt on my leg, and paid attention to how my aura interacted with my blade. It knew what I wanted to do, and it obeyed me after a minute. I grinned at the purple coating on my blade, and I looked towards THEM.

I raised my blade, and swung. A purple slash flew forwards, and cut through atleast a dozen of THEM. I watched as bodies collapsed around me, and I shuddered. It was wonderful. And even as I felt exhausted, I did it again. And I loved it. I was getting too tired to use more aura, and I realized I was slightly over extended. So I followed my lords advice, and didn't get overconfident or give into my vice. I regrouped with Takashi and Rei, and we formed up. Takashi was up front and center, and Rei flanked his left and I was on his right.

There were piles of THEM all around us, and we all seemed tired. "How long?" Rei managed to say that, despite how tired we all seemed to feel. Takashi and I didn't have a watch, but Miyamoto did.

"7 minutes. You doing ok kids? I can step up if you need me too." Takashi turned to her, and he thought about. After a bit, he shook his head.

"Keep dealing with any that we miss. We're fine for now." Rei snorted.

"YOU'RE fine, my arms hurt from swinging so much." Takashi looked embarrassed, and scratched his cheek, forgetting his claws and accidentally cutting himself. After he did that, he retracted his claws, we had enough time to breath, and heal, I saw Takashi healing a chunk of his arm that had been bitten off, and we kept talking.

"Kohta, how many are you seeing!" It was hard to see through the horde, and the pile of corpses we left behind, but Kohta could.

"Minimum 50, maximum 400. What's everyone's status?"

Takashi said he was fine, Rei was tired, I was exhausted, Saya was ok, and Miyamoto had the most energy out of all of us here aside from Takashi. Shizuka was doing ok in the garage, and Kohta himself was a little tired, he had used aura bullets and we were all a little tired from the training already, but we could still hold out. Takashi nodded when he heard about how we were doing, and was about to say something, but then we heard it.

A howl. The howl of my lord. And I felt my hair stand on end again. Then I felt it. Something radiated from him, and I felt a subtle pressure fall onto me. "What the hell is Zaka doing now?!" That was the question wasn't it?

"I'm betting he got some old power back. Who wants in on that?" Miyamoto might've been on the right track with that.

"Hey Hirano! Can you see where he's at?" We heard Miyamoto click her tongue at that.

"Sure. Cheat why don't you." Saya snorted at that, and we got a response from Kohta.

"I think he got his aura back!"

"Well isn't that convenient. Now he can show us how to use it." Despite the way she said that, she seemed relieved and VERY interested. I was as well. Though we ran out of time to recuperate, THEY were coming after all. But then we heard gunfire, and it wasn't from Kohta. Some of THEM were being shot, and we turned to see reinforcements. Saya's parents, some of their guards, and even a soldier from the other group. Our reinforcements supported us, and we began to hold the gate again. But then something else happened.

"Mr. Zaka is coming our way! He's sealed off the breach!" That news came maybe a minute later, and the pack fought with even more vigor then before.

It was a few seconds after Kohta called that out that I heard it. The sound of paws hitting the ground. I turned towards the sound, and I saw my lord running towards us. He barked at us, which I understood meant to back away, and the rest of the pack followed suit. "Mama, Papa, fall back a bit, Zaka's coming in!" Saya's parents blinked at her, but moved back anyway. Their unit followed their example, and we all fell back.

We watched as my lord ran, channeled aura into his legs, and JUMPED. He flew passed us, and we watched as he rolled into a spin, then we saw him shift. His aura coalesced around his fist, and I saw him come down with a bloody grin on his face. "CULVERIN!" And he hit the ground.

There was an explosion, and the ground we stood on shook. We had to shield our eyes from the dust that flew up after that, and we were only able to open our eyes after a few seconds. When I opened my eyes, I saw the destruction that move cost, and I was stunned. It was like a bomb went off, there was a crater in the road, and THEY were blown to pieces. My lord was just laughing, and I smiled. "Dammit Mutt, we NEED that road!"

My lord stopped laughing as he turned to Saya. "Oh come on cub, let me have that!"

"We NEED IT!"

"But Cuuuub!" We watched the both of them go back and fourth for a bit, and they only stopped when Saya's father cleared his throat.

"I need an explanation from ALL of you." He was mostly looking at my lord, but he looked at the soldier as well. I heard my lord grunt in response, and come out of the hole he blew himself into, and ruffle Saya's hair. She flailed her arms at him, but he just kept ruffling her hair with a smile on his face.

(I'll need to demand some of that later.) And with that thought, we walked back to the estate. An invasion prevented, and with all the important people alive.

(Maccillian's POV)

45 minutes. Almost an hour. And it was spent talking to a bunch of guys about what I was, what I could do, and other boring shit like that. It was sooo boring! They were still going on about how they could 'use' our help, and I clicked my tongue at that. (Yeah, use us, sure.) I was pretty sure some guy just asked me a question, but I was done with this, I wanted out. So I did what any good king does. I delegated the task of talking to boring people to someone else.

I got up from my seat, walked over to and picked up Saya, much to her confusion and embarrassment, and I set her down in my seat. "Alright cub. Talking to people is your job now, do your best!" And then I shifted and ran out the closest window.

"Zaka! ZAKA GET BACK HERE YOU MUTT!" I whistled in my mind, and kept running. I could hear Saya groan in frustration, and I audibly chortled. "DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH YOU MUTT!" I laughed harder at that, and ran up towards the roof. I perched myself up there, and just looked around the estate. There wasn't much damage around here. Then there were the survivors. They... Were ok I guess?

Somehow, there was a zombie that made it through to them... Maybe from a soldier, I didn't know or care really. None of them were one of mine, so I couldn't care less. Though as I was looking at the survivors area, I blinked. Apparently the Yuuki girl from Shidou's group was in an orgy with another girl from their group and some of the survivors from the Takagi group... (Oh well, to each their own.)

I just laid on the roof, and looked at the rest of the place. The breach I closed was being reinforced, and the front gate was being barricaded while they worked on fixing the gate. (Now what do I do? I could let them get some rest, and then work on going and clearing out home. Or we could just leave now and get a head start on that. We could even just go and meet up with Rika. What to do what to do...)

I thought about it, and didn't know what to do. It was maybe a minute after I was lost in thought that I heard someone come up to me. I looked at who it was, and saw it was Shizuka. She was in her wolf form, and just walked on over to me and sat by my side. She nudged her head into my shoulder, and I decided to just reply in kind. (Who needs to think? Thinking is overrated anyway.) We stayed like that for a bit, and then another bit later, Saeko came over. I saw her halt and just look at me and Shizuka.

I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I saw she wasn't moving towards us. Shizuka and I looked ta each other, then back at her. I shifted, and held my arm on. "Come on samurai." She blinked at me, and I saw something warring in her eyes. Shizuka must've seen it too, since she walked over to Saeko, and nudged her towards me. Saeko looked at her, then back at me, and started walking towards me. She shifted when she got in hug range, and came in for the hug.

Shizuka trotted over, and shifted as she leaned into my side. She put her head on my shoulder, and hugged the both of us. "What's wrong samurai?" Saeko hummed, and looked up to me.

"Do I deserve love?" Huh? That caught me a bit off guard, and I think even Shizuka was a little surprised.

"Do you want the quick answer or the long answer?" Saeko looked at me, and she was quiet for a bit. I didn't say anything to rush her, and neither did Shizuka. We just waited.

"I think I'd like the short answer." I nodded at that, and took an arm off her waist, and raised my hand to her chin. She was surprised at the sudden action, but before she could say anything, I kissed her. I didn't bother going for tongue or anything like that. I just held Saeko close, and kissed her. She melted into the kiss, and I felt her relax into my hug. We held the kiss for a bit, and then eventually broke it off.

"That answer your question Saeko?" She looked up to me, cheeks burning in a blush, and she nodded. Then I felt Shizuka poke my cheek, and I looked at her.

"Silveeer! I want one." I chuckled at that, and I gave her a kiss of her own. We broke it off after a bit, and just looked over the horizon. They stayed by my sides, and I held them close.

(Yeah... No thoughts, head empty. I can think about things later. For now, I'll just take this in.)

[Omake - Cleaning up Zaka's mess. Saya's POV after he left.]

(I'm going to shave the mutt! Stupid, asshole, dumbass! What kind of king lets a teenager deal with military officials and her parents like that!?) After Zaka left, everyone asking him questions just turned to me, and I could feel the pressure. But I couldn't and wouldn't let it get to me.

"... Well then... Saya, can you answer the rest of our questions or do you need time to get everything in order?" Thank god papa was here. The other advisors and officials let him talk, and I got time to think about it.

"I can do this." And I did. From there, I was asked about more things then I could count, and I only noticed Saeko and Marikawa-sensei were gone when someone mentioned it. (I'm going to strangle Saeko later.)

The rest of the meeting went from there, and after another half hour of talking, I was free at last! "Now where did those 3 go?"

"The roof." I looked at Miyamoto, and blinked.

"Really?" She nodded at me, and I thanked her. I shifted and started to run towards the roof, and when I got there, I paused. Zaka was there, and both Saeko and Marikawa-sensei were hugging his side, and they were just looking at the sun set. (That looks nice...) I wanted to be in there too... But there didn't seem to be any room.

"You CAN join in cub, just walk on over." Zaka surprised me with that, but I didn't know if I should. But after a bit of debating, I decided to go for it. I trotted over to them, and looked for space. Though I didn't see any. "Just lay in my lap, you'll be fine cub." I looked up at Zaka and just blinked.

(I mean... I've done it before... I'd might as well...) So I went for it. I made my way to his lap, and I laid in it. (This is nice. Yeah. I can get used to this... I can shave him later.)

[Status]

Name - Maccillian Silver Zaka

Age - 19(820)

Strength - C+

Dexterity - C-

Vitality - D+

Intelligence - E

Wisdom - D-

Charisma - C-

Luck - E

Werewolf Strength stage 3/4 - 750/7,500 - 1,011/7,500

Regeneration stage 1/4 - 85/200 - 117/200

Werewolf Senses stage 2/4 - 68/75

Wolf King's Wisdom stage 0/1 - 7/50 - 9/10